|
I’ll start with Absalom and Achitophel by John Dryden. Published in 1681, it is a powerful political poem dealing with a critical battle between Charles II and the English Parliament concerning the succession to the English throne. Parliament wished to exclude the brother of Charles (later James II) in favour of the king’s illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth. The Earl of Shaftesbury was the primary supporter of the Duke.
Dryden took the side of the king and wrote this withering satire attacking
Shaftesbury. It is 1031 lines long and written in brilliantly energetic heroic couplets.
|